During the night of 14 to 15 September 2022, the shipyard, where Jan De Nul’s new jack-up installation vessel Voltaire is being built, was hit by typhoon Muifa in China. The eye of the typhoon passed over the shipyard, causing the vessel to come loose from its moorings.
The dredging and offshore contractor reports no one was injured in the incident. The Voltaire is now safely moored back in the shipyard and first sight assessments show limited damage to certain parts of the crane and the helideck. Further assessments are ongoing.
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Voltaire
The Voltaire is under construction at COSCO Shipping Shipyard in Nantong, China, where it was launched in January of this year. Designed in-house, and pushing engineering boundaries, Voltaire is built to transport, lift and install offshore wind turbines, transition pieces and foundations.
Also read: VIDEO: Jan De Nul launches jack-up giant Voltaire
The main crane with a capacity of over 3000 tonnes will enable it to construct the current and future generation of wind farms at sea. Voltaire will also be available to the oil and gas industry for the decommissioning of offshore structures.
The Voltaire is a jack-up vessel fitted with a high-tech jacking system. Four giant legs of 130 metres support the vessel to achieve stable working conditions at water depths up to 80 meters and with an elevated load of 16,000 tonnes.
Jan De Nul‘s jack-up already won its first assignment in 2020. It will mobilise to the United Kingdom for the construction of the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, transporting and installing in total 277 GE Haliade-X turbines up to 14 MW.
Also read: Dredging and offshore contractor Jan De Nul suffers net loss over 2021
